Victory Night
by darkpartofmydestiny
Summary: Emmett hangs around while Warner talks to Elle. Furious at himself for spying on her proposal, he leaves. Of course, not everything is as it seems. Elle/Emmett


Emmett felt as though he'd been punched right in the throat. He could hardly breathe, his chest was so tight he thought he might drop dead any second. _Why did I stay?_ He thought angrily, turning around and walking away. _Why did I think spying on her was a good idea? I completely invaded her privacy, her trust - and it hurts like hell. I'm such an ass. A jerk. A selfish, privacy invading, engagment ruining jerk.  
_

The sight of Warner down on one knee in front of the woman he'd been secretly madly in love with for months was one that he was pretty sure was now burned into his retinas. The guy was so smooth, so polished - everything Emmmett wasn't. All these months, Warner didn't even give Elle the time of day. He was blind to how fantastic she was until she did the most fantastic thing in front of everyone. He was such a bandwagon jumper. _Everyone_ could see Elle's talent now.

Emmett had been there through the long nights of studying, the tears of frustration, the successes, the failiures - everything. He'd held her while she cried because it was 2am and she was so physically exhausted she couldn't think anymore. He'd eaten Chinese food with her on Christmas Day because neither of them knew how to cook. He _knew_ her. He knew she hated pineapple, he knew that her favourite movie was Breakfast at Tiffany's. He knew that she set her alarm for 5.30 every single day so she had time to go to the gym, walk Bruiser and study before class.

He doubted Warner even knew her favourite colour at this point.

Elle didn't owe him anything, she was an adult who could make her own choices. If she wanted Warner, that was her choice and he would respect that.

That didn't mean he would ever think Warner was good enough for her.

He walked to where his car was parked and opened the door angrily. Pausing before he got in, he noticed Warner's Mercedes was parked next to him. Emmett couldn't help but give the wheels of the shiny black car just a little frustrated kick (partially because if he'd have done anything more damaging to the car he wouldn't have been able to afford to fix it and his conscience wouldn't let him just walk away.) His own car was old and more than a little battered. He may as well have been looking at a picture of him and Warner side by side. Warner: the shiny, expensive dream car. Emmett: the rusty old wreck. He unlocked the doors and sat, numb, in the driver's seat for a while, feeling unable to really do anything for about five minutes. He'd just turned the key when he'd remembered he and Elle had driven here together. He couldn't just leave her here.

 _Don't be stupid. She'll be riding with her new fiancé.  
_

He was just about to drive away when the car door opened, making him jump. His foot hit the accelorator accidentally, and the car shuddered forward. He frantically slammed on the breaks before the car rolled too far. Elle stared at him like he was mad as she hovered awkwardly half in and half out of the car, having managed by some miracle not to fall out. She scowled at him as she got into the car, shutting the door firmly. Her breathing was fast, probably due to the fact he'd just almost run her over with his car.

"Jesus, Em! Are you trying to kill me?! Because honestly I think I've had enough of murder trials for the time being. Even if I would be the victim, rather than the lawyer. Oh my god that scared me." She babbled, her hand trembling slightly. Emmett felt guilt burn in him.

"I - um, you surprised me. That's all." He said weakly by way of explination. "I was just going, I didn't see you there."

"Wait, were you leaving without me?" Elle asked, screwing her nose up in confusion. "Why would you do that?"

"I thought you might want to ride home with someone else." Emmett said in a quiet voice. As hurt as he was, he couldn't bring himself to be angry. It wasn't her fault he'd never had the balls to tell her how he felt. She loved Warner, and that was okay. It had to be okay. "Warner, maybe?"

"Why would I ride home with Wa-" Elle paused, looking at Emmett's face carefully. He stared down at his lap, not able to look her in the eye. His own thighs were apparently the most interesting thing in the car right now because he couldn't drag his eyes away. She raised an eyebrow, and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. He looked at her like a guilty kid who'd just broken his mom's favourite lamp. "You were watching, weren't you?"

"I didn't mean to." Emmett replied quickly, eyes once more pointed down as he twisted his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry, I know it was a shitty thing to do but-"

"Look." Elle held up her left hand. Emmet wasn't really sure he wanted to see the inevitably huge ring that would be sitting on her finger. "Go on, look."

Emmett finally looked up as Elle wiggled her bare fingers in his face. The smile that broke out all over his face could probably be seen from space and Elle beamed back at him. Before she placed her hand back down, she gave him a quick sharp flick to the forehead.

"I deserved that." Emmett admitted, throwing his head back and laughing in pure relief. "You turned him down."

"You don't need to sound quite so happy about that, you know." Elle laughed. She paused for a moment, chewing her lip thoughtfully. Emmett watched her carefully, wondering what she was going to say next. She was staring out straight ahead, not quite looking at him but glancing his way every now and then. "Y'know, a year ago that was all I ever wanted. I didn't realise there was more out there for me - marriage always seemed like the end goal. Now, my goals don't _have_ an end." Elle was smiling so broadly her eyes were almost closed. She looked so happy, so beautiful. She looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"You sound like a Hallmark card." Emmett joked, and Elle laughed softly. His tone became gentler as he looked at her. God, she was just so beautiful. "I'm so proud of you, Elle."

"It was all down to you." Elle turned to face him, her hand moving from her side to rest on his cheek. He leaned into her palm, closing his eyes. She smiled at this; he looked exhausted. These last few weeks had been hard for him more than anyone else, working non stop to ensure the case went smoothly.

"No it wasn't. It was down to you. I just helped give you a little push." He murmered, placing his hand over hers once more, as if he were afraid she'd take her hand away. His skin was warm against hers, the flesh of his cheek on her palm and his hand pressed against hers. She had never felt so close to him as she did right now.

"A _big_ push. I couldn't have done any of this without you." He moved his head to face her, her hand falling away. She reached out and took his hand, holding it tightly. Emmett felt his breath catch in his chest as her thumb ran over the back of his hand gently. "I can't believe you thought I'd say yes to Warner _now_. Did you honestly not see me try and kiss you before that dingus interrupted?"

"I - I _might_ have noticed."

In possibly the smoothest moment of his entire life, Emmett cupped her chin and pulled her gently towards him. Their lips met softly, in possibly the best first kiss in the history of the world. That is, until Emmmet tried to reach out to put his hand in her hair, lost his balance, slipped and jammed his elbow straight into the car's horn. The loud blaring noise made Elle jump out of her skin, and she jerked backwards and smacked her head on the car window. As Emmett was frantically apologising, he noticed Warner staring at them through the windscreen, his mouth open and arms hanging limply by his side.

So, _not_ the best first kiss in the history of the world.

As Elle closed her eyes and winced in pain, Emmett gave Warner an awkward little wave that he would regret until the day he died. Warner looked a little shell shocked, and got into his own car and drove away at a speed Emmett was pretty sure was in no way legal. Elle still had her eyes screwed shut, rubbing at the back of her head to try and ease the pain.

"Elle I am so sorry, I'm such an idiot." He threw his head back on the headrest, rubbing his temples. "I wanted it to be perfect and I screwed it up."

"No, no it's fine! Honestly! It, um, just hurts a little." She said, trying to sound perky while wincing in pain. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, taking his hand in hers and rubbing it soothingly. "It was just an accident, don't worry. At least nobody saw, I must have looked pretty stupid."

"Uh, that's not quite true. Warner was kind of standing there watching us."

Elle turned to look at the now empty spot where Warner had been standing. Emmett watched as a grin slowly spread over her face until she was shaking with laughter.

"You know, when I woke up this morning I was all ready to go home. Now I'm ending the da yhaving won a court case by knowing about perms and making out with you while Warner watched. Life really is unpredictable."

"You really don't care what he thinks anymore?" Emmett asked, tracing his finger along her cheek. She grinned and shook her head.

"The guy proposed to someone else right in front of me, I think he can stand a little kissing. Can we go home now? I heard something about celebrating at Vivienne's place, and also I'm pretty sure I have a concussion."

* * *

"To Elle!" Vivienne raised a glass of champagne in the air. "Harvard's most promising law student."

The others echoed Vivienne's toast, all raising their glasses to her. Despite her tendancy to be loud and confident, Elle felt herself blush beet red. She wasn't used to people praising her like this, certainly not for an accomplishment like this. She felt truly proud of everything she had achieved, but she hadn't done it alone. Every single person in the room had worked their butts off trying to free Brooke, or at least they'd worked their butts off to be at Harvard in the first place. Well, that is except the gaggle of Delta Nu girls huddled in the corner chatting excitedly.

"Oh, stop." Elle blushed, taking a drink. The small room was buzzing with conversation, so only Vivienne could hear her. "Anyone with a basic knowledge of hair care could have done it. You guys all worked so hard on this case, we did it together."

"Where's Warner?" Enid asked, not that she particularly cared one way or the other. "I thought he'd be here."

"Warner wasn't invited." Vivienne replied stiffly. "We broke up, and this is my party. Frankly he did almost nothing to contribute to the case so why waste champagne on that?"

Elle, of course, already knew about the break up. Vivienne looked strong enough, but Elle could see she'd been crying. She put an arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze. She thought she'd made her uncomfortable, but Vivienne quickly mouthed "thank you" at her. It was funny, she'd spent all that time and energy hating her but really, Vivienne wasn't so different. Elle admired her for the way she had defended her against Warner after Callahan had hit on her. A lot of people would have joined in his mocking, but Vivienne didn't.

"Excue me for a moment." Vivienne sniffed heavily and walked towards the bathroom. Elle wondered if she should follow her but reconsidered - they might be friendly but they weren't quite at the "going to the bathroom together" level yet. Enid turned away and began talking to someone else. Elle looked around the room; a strange mix of Harvard students and her old sorority friends. It was funny, the two worlds seemed to blend surprisingly well.

"How long do I have to stay?" Emmett sideled up beside Elle, taking her hand in his and standing close to her. They were both standing side by side, thinking nobody could see their hands entwined. "I've gotten like three hours of sleep in a month and everyone's about six years younger than me. I have no idea what your Delta Nu friends are even talking about, they keep talking about some hills? I didn't know they liked geography."

"Oh you are too funny, they're talking about the TV show. You want to crash at mine?" Elle asked. He'd done it a thousand times before, but her words suddenly had more meaning to them. "I mean, just so you don't have to drive home when you're exhausted. Really, it's a safety thing. Don't drive tired."

"I would love to." Emmett replied with a wide smile. "The thought of driving home right now is honestly the worst. I have spare clothes in my car, I was planning on sleeping at the office last night before..everything."

"Oh god, what's going to happen to you tomorrow?" Elle said as it dawned on her that, as meaningul and wonderful as Emmett's behaviour had been, he was now out of a job.

"First of all, I'm going to report Callahan for innappropriate student teacher conduct. Then, I'll probably get fired for my own innapropriate student teacher, well assistant, conduct because I think anyone with eyes can see there's something going on between us right now." Elle squeaked, jumping far apart from him. He chuckled, pulling her back towards him. "Elle, it's okay. I've actually already had a call offering me an associate job at another firm. One of my old proffessors followed the trial and was apparently impressed with my work. I need to go and meet with them, but all being well I start in two weeks."

"That's great! I'm so proud of you." She took a slightly shaky breath. "You're leaving Harvard."

"It's my choice. Ethically it clears things up between us if I offer my resignation as soon as possible. I don't want to be accused of giving you favours. I'll still be around, the firm's not far away. Besides, this job is way too good to turn down. I'll be able to afford to eat something other than ramen noodles. I might even be able to pay for pizza for a change." Emmett yawned widely, and Elle smiled. "I'm sorry, I'm pretty dead on my feet right now."

"Do you want to go? Shower if you want, I'll catch up with you." Elle handed him her key from her purse, ruffling his hair. He smiled broadly at her - in fact, Elle was pretty sure he'd been smiling ever since she told him she'd turned Warner down.

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and left the room. Elle couldn't help but stare after him - he had the nicest butt she'd ever seen. As soon as she was alone, Enid and Vivienne, back from the bathroom, were by her side.

"Tell us everything!" Vivienne squealed - yes, squealed. "You two are all over each other."

"We were not." Elle protested uselessly, her cheeks giving her away by turning a flaming shade of pink.

"Oh please, did you honestly think we couldn't see you holding hands? Spill, sister." Enid coaxed her, and Elle laughed.

"I mean, I think you all saw it coming from a mile away." Elle said with a smile, heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean we don't want details!" Margot piped up, running over once she saw an opportunity for gossip. "Gosh he is so cute. In a kinda..sexy..librarian way."

"Um, thanks!" Emmett interrupted. He'd come back into the room and had been hovering awkwardly behind Vivienne's bookcase waiting for a chance to interject. Margot squealed with embarassment. She ran away, dragging Pilar and Serena with her. Emmett shook his head, trying not to laugh. "Does she think books are bad or something? I worked two summers as a librian. Anywho, I forgot to ask if you want me to take Bruiser for a walk?"

"No, he's with Paulette. She came to pick him up after the trial finished. She, um, said I'd be too busy to worry about him tonight."

"Too busy doing what exactly?" Emmett laughed. He was painfully aware of what Paulette wanted for the both of them - she wasn't exactly subtle. Elle rolled her eyes and punched him gently on the arm. "Okay, I'm going now."

* * *

"So, today was crazy, huh?" Elle called across the room as she brushed her hair. She was wearing a pair of bright pink cupcake flannel pyjamas, a cosy pair that she'd gotten for Christmas one year.

Emmett watched as she ran the brush through her hair again and again, knowing her routine so well. One hundred times, every night. Brush, brush, brush. The sound of the bristles passing through her hair was making him sleepy, and he wondered if she was doing more strokes than usual to avoid getting into bed with him. They had done this before; Emmett would always lie on her bed while she got ready then he'd sleep on the floor beside her. Now, things were a little more awkward. Their kiss in the car was still their only one and Emmett was unsure how to proceed. Women weren't exactly his strong point.

"Yeah." He shut his eyes, resting his head against the pillow. Her sheets were far nicer than his own well worn Walmart ones. Egyptian cotton, he remembered her saying a while ago.

He felt her slip into bed beside him. The bed wasn't really big enough for the two of them, pushing them close together. He opened his eyes and found that Elle had turned out the lights. He sat up, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up. He felt Elle's hand grab his forearm and yank him back down. He landed with a thud next to her, and she firmly pushed on his chest to make sure he lay down.

"Don't make this weird, Forrest."

"I just thought-"

"You're tired, I'm tired, I want to sleep beside you." Elle told him, reaching over him to switch the light out.

"You do?" Emmett questioned, wondering when he got so lucky.

"Honestly, for someone as clever as you you sure are dumb. I'm crazy about you, Emmett. I want to see you naked at some point."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Totally naked." Elle yawned, laying her head on his chest and wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Would you-" his voice cracked, and he wondered when he'd turned back into a 14 year old boy. He cleared his throat. "Would you be naked too?"

"Well duh. Anyway dingus, shut up and go to sleep."

"Goodnight, Elle."

"Goodnight, Emmett."


End file.
